Agenda item

John Lang and Neil Spencer gave a presentation on the Youth Asset Mapping Exercise recently undertaken by Forge Community Partnership.

Members were made aware that the exercise started in January, 2016 and were reminded of the aims of the project.  These were to undertake a consultation led by young people to map existing provision and identify gaps. This would then be used to inform future provision.

The meeting heard of the work undertaken to build the skills of young people, which involved the Youth Partnership working with the Digital Media Clubs.  It was noted that this provided a positive opportunity for children of different ages to work together.

A survey was then undertaken using SurveyMonkey. This was added to by using pop-up events in the area, which provided an opportunity for young people to compete paper surveys.  In total this yielded 1455 responses.

The responses were analysed and a report produced. 62 different activities had been identified, and a number of concerns of young people had been highlighted.  This information was further enhanced by a series of more in-depth interviews.

Finally an event was held at Netherwood ALC, which engaged pupils from 8 primary schools in the area, and pupils from Year 7 to Year 10 from Netherwood School itself.

Four main areas were highlighted from the report. These were:-

·         A need to provide accessible information that promotes both existing and new events and activities.

·         More organised activities / events that utilise existing space / parks to promote and encouraging participation and a sense of shared ownership.

·         Personal support that is less formal and easy to access in both areas of wellbeing and career pathways.

·         That digital media is part of young people’s lives.

Members discussed the findings, noting that the recent Health Conference highlighted echoed some of the findings with regards to the use of green space.

The meeting gave thanks to Forge, and the Area Team for their work. Praise was also given to Netherwood ALC for engaging whole heartedly in the exercise.  It was agreed that the Chair writes a letter of thanks to echo this.

RESOLVED that:-

(i)     Thanks be given to Forge Community Partnership for presentation and their work in undertaking the exercise;

(ii)    A letter of thanks be sent to Netherwood ALC to thank them for their support and participation in the exercise.